The Hollies :: View topic

I don't think Rob will give his opinion on that one, but I could certainly give five or six candidates for worst song ever.

But hey, over the course of a 20-year active career and then a further fairly inactive (from a recording standpoint) 25-years, to only have one side of LP's worth of turkeys is pretty good.

and then even the worst is worth listening and is a matter of personel feeling about the song ,just like the top ten on everyone is different so the tiop ten of worst will be different its just a personal qestion i think , and when the mood is chaingin the songs will be different ,but what really matters is that every song ,track ore live non recorded song The Hollies made ,they made the choice and made it theirs to us to listen about so enjoy it even if .......... i lke them all

bernard ,almelo

Oh how I loathe discussions like the one above. I agree that it all comes down to a question of taste. Geoff's presice and well-informed comments are always very worthwhile to read, however.

I must say I did not react positively to the thought of Hollies recording a Beatles song at the time, but when they did it, I think they came up with a quite respectable version. I have also heard it live by the Hollies as part of an acoustic set some years ago, and it went down quite well, alongside King Midas, ironic enough. This shows that the groups stands for their historic choices.

But if you ask my personal opinion, So lonely is 10 times better than If I needed someone. I could list a number of other self penned B-sides that were better than IINS.

Blame the record company for squelching the band's potential for writing A-sides early on, after "We're Though" ONLY made No. 7. What's wrong with that chart position, I'd like to know? In the highly competitive 1960s, anything below a No. 3 was not considered a really big hit by record company standards, unbelievable as it may seem now. I agree; plenty of Hollies B-sides were worthy of A-side status. Ron Richards apparently didn't have much confidence in the band's writing abilities either or he would have stuck up for them in that regard. Luckily things changed with "Stop Stop Stop".

Joined: 15 Mar 2008 Posts: 12 Location: Germany

The Hollies and the shadow of the Fab Four - it's perhaps one of the most interesting subjects to talk about. I like to add some more ideas to the discussion.
I assume that the Beatles' success became a kind of a problem for most bands during the 60s(except of the Rolling Stones).
Even the IINS-experience proved that. In case of the Hollies you can see several moments, where especcially Graham Nash seems to hide this feelings behind some ironic remarks. First of all - the "Shindig"-appearance on Us-TV. When the Hollies perform "Too much Monkey buisiness" Graham Nash switches over to the first bars of "I feel fine"(Baby's good to me you know...), thus surprising his mates - well it's a kind of cabaret music, they were doing, but - the quotation may be more than a simple gag.
Second: when the Hollies performed in the German "Beat Club" (1965?) the (charming)
interviewer asks Graham how many hits the Hollies had up to that day. He then replies "138.000" (or so) and starts naming them "A Hard Days Night, Can't buy me love". A nice joke- with the sad truth in mind that the Hollies could have a No.1 in Sweden but nearly never (except of I'm alive) in their home country?
Third: the famous Stockholm live concert in 1967 (or was it at the end of 66?). While the band is just checking the sound in front of the audience, Graham starts with the opening bars of "A Hard Days night" and tells the audience "we can do them all". Then they do some really good covers from Dylan, the Four Tops and (included in "Too much Monkey Buisiness" again) the Loving spoonful and the Who. It's a great fun to listen! - and a sad truth perhaps for Graham, that the Hollies would never be as innovative and "original" as their "Perfect Cousins" from Abbey Road Studios?
The so called "problem" for the Hollies, as I called it before, was probably one nucleus of Grahams later decision to leave the Hollies. It would be interesting, if there exists any evidence how the other Hollies coped with the "Shadow of the Fab Four".
A last thought to the Hollies version of "If I needed someone": I think the performance lacks somehow the energy that tracks like "I'm alive" have. And even Tony Hicks' Guitar licks at the end of the song don't seem to be first rate even if I admire his guitar playing in general.
Hollies "vs." the Beatles - a never ending story?